TDRILL

Just wondering. There are a bunch of standard cassettes with an 11 ring and a couple with a 12 ring, but why not bigger?

I understand that they want cassettes that racers use, but for all the bikes they sell to amateurs, you'd think a little more user friendly cassette would sell well. For beginners, they will rarely touch the tiny ring, even using their 34 up front, let alone in their big ring. And for guys like me, it would be an excellent climbing cassette and help keep my ratios closer. I don't race and at 170+ I can hit 40-50+ mph on decents without even trying hard, I don't need to spin out an 11, its completely wasted on me

unterhausen

I think you're asking too much, unfortunately. The trend in mountain biking is to go with smaller front rings. I tried to buy a 12-32 recently, and my LBS would have had to order it, so I got 11-32 instead. Back in the day, 14 tooth was normal and the racers has 13 teeth. Riders didn't actually get much faster, we just spin slower or something. I did manage to get to a point where I wanted a little higher gear than my 50-11 Saturday, but it was for about 30 seconds on a 130 mile ride. It's a bit of a waste, I would much prefer having another gear up in the lower range.

mkadam68

They do. They're called "Junior" gears. My son rides a 14x25. Admittedly, they're somewhat hard to find online, but I would imagine a LBS should be able to order them.

topflightpro

Shimano used to. They are generally considered junior cassettes. Check with your LBS, I'll bet there are still some new old stock ones around.

10 Wheels

https://www.google.com/#hl=en&sclien...w=1109&bih=564

echotraveler

Are you using a compact aleady? Are you riding alone?

I ask this cause, youll get better and better as you haul up miles... A 14 seems exagerared, maybe an 11 is too. A 12 along a compact is a very usable gear and would let you ride with faster groups as you becOme stronger. Being able to sprint and pull hard is fun!

TDRILL

Yes I have a compact and mostly ride alone. When I first got the bike it was def overgeared for me. I've been riding for two years and keep getting stronger and stronger and my favorite thing to do is go climbing. I'm riding a 26-11 and I'm strong enough to climb some big hills, I even have an HC climb under my belt now. So yes, I understand I'll keep getting stronger and pushing bigger gears, but over these last two years I could have used a bigger cassette out back and then upgrade to the cassette I have now as I got stronger. Also when you are doing 8 miles of 9% avg, yea I can do it, but that is a lot of pounding on the knees man, and it sure would have been nice to have a 28 for a little more spin.

The 14 is def kind of big, I do use my 34-12 a decent amount. I was never strong enough to use the big ring up front very much, but now instead of using 34-12, I'd pop into the big ring more often and adjust up the cassette a bit more. Even at my current strength, I don't see myself needing to spin out 50-14 all that often

RecceDG

The answer is that as you make the big cog bigger, you need to make the small cog smaller, because the big cog implies going up hills so you need a smaller cog to drive down hills.

For flat stages, you want a tight-ratio cassette to fine-tune cadence. For hilly stages, you want wide range. A 14-28 would provide good climbing power but would spin out as soon as the hill pointed down.

DG

Bacciagalupe

If you aren't using the 11 or 12, having it there won't kill you. There also isn't much benefit to adding another gear to that 14-28 range.

seypat

Every company used to make those (during the 5 speed freewheel days.) Back in the bike boom days of the 70's, that was the standard choice on a lot of bikes. It was called Alpine gearing. 52/40 up front and a 14-17-20-24-28 out back.

ericm979

If you don't use the 11t or 12t then you'd be better off with a cassette that doesn't have them, so you'll have more of the gears that you do use.
The benefit of having more cogs in the range that you use is that you have tighter jumps between the gears, so you're less likely to be stuck where one cog is a higher gear than you want but the next one is a lower gear than you want.

I have a friend who's pretty fast and use a 50/34 and 13-29 cassette. He's faster down descents than I am, and I'm not slow. He does not have problems spinning out.

OP, it also sounds like you could use slightly lower gears. I'd recommend a 12-27 or 12-28. Shimano 12-28 has a big jump from the 24t to the 28t. Sram's 12-28 has a larger jump from the 19t to the 22t. You get to pick where it is. Sram makes more affordable 12-27s- Shimano only makes them in DA now. Or there's new Shimano 12-30 cassettes if you want lower gearing.

Drag

My first MTB had a Shimano HG 13-30 cassette, but that was back in 7-speed-dom. Not that this helps your situation any...

adclark

Like already said, the smaller cogs help while coming down the other side after you climb. I regularly spin out a 50/13 on some of the descents around where I live. On my other bike I have a 50/11 and I only spin out going down one particular road where I usually get over 50mph. Also, I suck at sprinting in the 50/13. I spin out by the end and get passed since I don't have the higher gearing. If you aren't worried about getting dropped on a descent or losing a sprint though, there is no need for the smaller cogs. I love my 13-26 for my climbing bike as long as I am not racing.

refthimos

The use of cassettes as opposed to the older freewheel technology also played a part, by allowing smaller cog sizes (namely, the 11 that has become pretty standard). Shimano for a bit made an 11-34 freewheel, but generally speaking, 11-[__] freewheels are pretty darn rare.

Dean V

I have been wanting a cassette similar to this as well. I think they are not there because the market doesn't have enough demand for them. Most people seem to think they need that 12 or even 11t top gear. Shimano does still make a 14-25 in Ultegra 6600 so you may be able to combine that with a 28t cassette to get what you want.

rm -rf

I have a 10 speed Campagnolo 13-29.
It's 13-14-15-16-17-19-21-23-26-29

They make an 11 speed version of this as a 12-29.

I rarely miss the 50-12. The 50-13 at 95 rpm is 29 mph. In reality, If I'm trying to keep up with a fast group at this speed (it would have to be on a slight downhill, not flat ground), I'll be spinning at 100 rpm or so, anyway.

On downhills, I'll effectively spin out the 50-13 at about 34 mph, about 115 rpm. I just coast on steeper downhills.

In the 34-29, 15% grades are pretty easy, going very slow, standing up and balancing. If I need to recover on a steep climb, I can slow way down even on 8-9% grades, and just a fairly easy pedal stroke keeps me moving, instead of standing and mashing there. When pushing hard, I'll even use the 34-29 at 90 rpm on a 5% grade, going about 8.5 mph.

knobd

Get yourself a Miche 10 speed compatible cassette. The cogs are all individually replaceable:

First Position Cogs

Middle Position Cogs

Final Position Cogs

I have a customized 13-29 9-speed on my cross bike. You can configure your cassette exactly the way you want. This also gives you the flexibility to reconfigure the cassette as you deem necessary. I ended up having to buy 3 extra cogs. It will cost you a little bit but they're well made and I think the price is worth it.

njkayaker

If 14 is high enough for you, then 28 probably isn't low enough.

I agree that, for most people, the 11 is not really useful.

I have a 11-28 and would prefer a 12-28 because that would have the 16 that is missing.

What you (probably) want is a 12-28. The times you be able to use a 50/11 combo is rare and not that efficient anyway (you'd be better off tucking) IF your cadence is on the high side.


The major value (to most people) of the 12/11 isn't to use it with the 50 ring. It's to have a reasonable range in the 34 so you don't have to shift the front too often.


I can do about 26 mph in the 34 with 11 or 12 (I get annoying chain rub in the 11/34 and it's cross-chaining anyway, which means I don't use that combo very often).

njkayaker

The OP was talking about a 14-28. For the hills I see fairly regularly, 25 isn't low enough.

njkayaker

It's a silly waste having a gear that you don't use. It means that you are missing a gear that you would/might use (typically, the 16).

HokuLoa

Hmm, I'd loathe a 14-28. I use compact 50/36 primarily with an 11-28 for all purpose rides that include mountain climbs (Colorado). What goes up must come down and I like the 28 only for the benefit on 7%plus grades where usually I'm climbing for miles and many thousands of feet (3-7K usually). Coming down I'd easily spin out a 14 where I can keep some engagement of the 11 to keep comfortably spinning. Basically if I didn't need the 11 coming down then I definitely would not need the 28 heading up. Heck, even on slight declines, rollers and flats I regularly use my 50/11 for fast pulls and a 14 would leave me wanting more. Even at 90rpm in a 50/11 one's speed is only 32mph or so.

FYI, I'm a cyclist with orthopedic issues so this is not a perspective out of the ordinary...

OldsCOOL

That's for sure.

I have two bikes with 14/28 6sp freewheel and the granny gear is like jezebel.

davida

Shimano are slowly getting there - They have gone from 12-27 to 11-28 and now 12-30 just out (although out for a couple of years at Tiagra). The 30 is great for climbing, and the 12 means that you don't spin out too much. I think 13-29 would be optimal. A slightly greater spread than the OP wants, but still good climing and top end is OK. Campag are doing this, and eventually Shimano will get the message that a large part of their target market is middle age moderately fit folk with dodgy knees. Many of them would go for the 13-29.

knobd

I'll quote my post from before. You can pretty much have whatever cassette you want now (up to a 29 in the back). I did it in 9 speed and am very happy with it. The links will show that they do Campy as well.

PhotoJoe 

The Ultegra 11-28 has a four tooth jump in the low end. I've never ridden it, but that seems pretty big to me. Though I do understand that you have trade-offs and I suspect they did this to keep the gearing tight in the middle.

Ultegra 11-28: 11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-24-28